PJ's Daycare
by 22hopster
Summary: Constance is an (mostly) ordinary girl with a not-so-ordinary job. Long story short, she works at PJ's Daycare. I hope she's able to handle all this shenanigans that come her way. Disclaimer for whole story: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY OC. ALL AU'S AND THEIR CHARACTERS GO TO THEIR ORIGINAL CREATORS. I REPEAT, I. OWN. NOTHING. EXCEPT. MY. OC.


My flip flops slapped against dewy pavement as I walked along the street and took a left turn. Hanging off of my left arm was a bag with carefully stacked drink carriers inside, my right idly swung by side. A gentle breeze blew, making me shut my light brown eyes and my short, blonde hair and my bangs tremble slightly. I continued walking at a leisure pace past the park, it's various equipment glittering with dew in the newly risen sunlight. I continued my pace until I came to a building. Said building wasn't very big, nor was it very little. Inside, I could see the waiting area for people to drop off their kids. It had a front desk, some potted plants, a couple of magazines, and a few children's games. I opened the glass door, a small bell announcing my presence, and slid in.

"Ah! Good morning Constance!"

And who was that? Why, it was our favorite pair of pajamas, Mr. PJ.

"Good morning Mr. P! I brought hot chocolate."

"So you did. Go ahead and head to the lounge, I'll be there in a minute."

"Ok."

I grabbed a pink apron on the way to said lounge and then walked through a hallway and opened a door. What greeted me was a cozy little room. This cozy little room was the equivalent to a teacher's lounge, and had furniture piled around a coffee table and a window in the right wall. I carefully set down the drinks on the coffee table, took two out, and left the rest. We didn't have a microwave, because skeletons don't need to eat, but we did have an oven and some baking supplies for when I had to bake some delicious treats for everyone. Hey, just because they didn't need to eat doesn't mean they couldn't. Plus, I was pretty darn good at baking if I do say so myself. I plopped on the couch and took a sip of the hot chocolate I brought daily. If nothing else, the warm drink was soothing in the mornings. I opened my eyes and stared out of the window, watching a family pass by a little too quickly past the building. Oh, how I wish I had that. A family, I mean.

I had always been an orphan. Growing up, I had wanted to get adopted, wanted to grow up with a loving family, but that never happened. One by one, all my friends were adopted. Until I was the last of my age group left. It was lonely back then, having no one to talk to, no one to play with, no one at all. I'd always open up the window in the empty children's quarters and sing. I drowned all my sorrows with song, and I'd feel better again. Eventually I started helping with the smaller children until I could practically raise a young child on my own. Another favorite past time of mine was to bake. I'd bake and bake until there was no counter space left _to_ bake. When I turned eleven I was finally adopted by a lovely young woman who couldn't keep a man nor child with her. Her name was Diane.

She wanted a child who could take care of themselves since she worked most of the time. Since I was the oldest kid in the orphanage, and independent, I was chosen. Diane runs an apartment building nearby, and she lives in a nice little house in a monster-friendly neighborhood. When she said she wanted a kid who could take care of themselves, she _meant_ it. Sure she got home in time to make supper, but other than that, I was mostly on my own.

Being alone most of the time also had it's perks. I could be friends with whoever, I could go for walks whenever, I could paint my stuff, I could climb trees, and I could cook. Well, I can kinda cook. I went to school and made friends and had a lot of sleep overs. Everything was looking up in my life, good grades, good friends, and good school.

That was when monsters first emerged, and everything changed.

At first, a loud sonic boom was seen and heard MLP style. Then King Asgore showed up and scared the living daylights out of everybody. Everything was turmoil until he and the president made a treaty and all was solved, mostly. People got scared. Many thought that the monsters had cast spells on them, others came up with outrageous theories that sometimes made me laugh out loud. And to top it all off, everyone is pretty much borderline racist toward the monsters, and those that aren't are persecuted with the wrath of a thousand suns. Of course, that was _before_ the AU's showed up.

When that happened, people completely flipped out. Breaking store windows, openly assaulting monsters (which is illegal), ripping off said monsters, and generally making everything a mess. Monster children are heavily bullied and often switch to homeschool because it gets _that_ bad. I knew I wasn't gonna have a lot of friends this year, if any. Lot of students had seen me with my close affiliation with monsters last year, and my so-called 'friends' had showed up at my apartment to tell me either stop hanging around monsters, or give up our friendship. Now, I learned from Diane that if friends couldn't love you for you, they weren't your true friends. On top of that, I had experience with letting go and accepting that you'd never see them again.

You can guess what I told them. I hadn't seen them since. Good riddance if you ask me. Of course, I cried for a while afterward, but as I broke down and looked at the shattered pieces of my heart, I could tell which pieces I needed and which I had to let go. So I did. When I went to school the next day, rumors had started, but I didn't care. It was on one of my after school walks that I found sweet little Ink being bullied. Just because he was a skeleton. My first thought was ' _What kinda racist crap is this?'_ which then escalated to ' _I gotta do something. Now.'_ , and I did. I still don't regret a single thing. I jumped from my hiding place and screamed bloody murder, effectively giving everyone heart failure. I then preceded to ask in a calm voice, as if I hadn't just shrieked at the top of my lungs, why they were picking on a skeleton.

They said it was because he was a skeleton. I pointed out that that was like picking on him because he was a human. He asked what my point was. I said my point was that he was racist. He yelled he wasn't. So what do I do? I sing the word 'racist' over and over again until he marches over and grabs the collar of my shirt. He says some hurtful things, but I'm not listening. Oh no, I'm waiting for the right moment. When he goes silent after screaming in my face for a minute straight I take a deep breath and holler the words 'sexual harassment'. When he lets go out of shock I cackle like a mad woman, grab Ink, and book it. That's how I met Pallet, which led me to meeting everyone else including PJ. Now I work at his daycare and Ink never passes up the opportunity to cuddle with me. Ever. If that's not a job resume, I don't know what is.

"-stance. Constance!"

I jolt a little, almost spilling my hot chocolate everywhere (thank goodness for lids), and look up. Mr. PJ and his brother Bluescreen look dangerously amused at my drifting into other worlds. It became a strange habit that just won't go away. I give them a sheepish smile and gesture to the drinks on the table. After we get settled we wait until the others come in. Palette comes first. He bursts through the door with a shout of 'I forgot Connie's bringing drinks!' that's heard throughtout the daycare and we all share a chuckle at his exuberance. He comes into the lounge, swoops a drink, and plops beside me. Thus begins my favorite morning activity, platonic cuddling.

When I first arrived here we got it out of the way that since I was human, I wasn't any of their types. That was okay with me, they weren't mine either. We established that we'd just be friends and that was it. We all got closer and closer to each other until we'd all started platonically cuddling in the mornings. No one's sure how or why we started it, we just did. Of course, Bluescreen and Mr. PJ thought it was adorable and would often take pictures of us all in a heap on the couch. We're still trying to find them. I lean into Palette's side and he tucks me under his arm. When Goth and Grey arrived each of their heads would go in our laps and they'd curl into balls.

As if on cue, they arrive together since their neighbors, and thus begins the morning cuddling ceremony. We all relax into each other, becoming completely boneless (which is ironic, since they're skeletons), and warm air escapes our noses/nose cavities. At some point, my eyes close, and the others must've done the same because I can hear Mr. P taking pictures and Bluescreen aweing. After thirty minutes, the timer for work goes off, and we all untangle with groans of displeasure.

"Hey Constance," Grey asks, "the sleepover is at your house this time, right?"

"You betcha!" I reply. Everyone smiles a little at that. You see, on top of platonic cuddling, once every week we gather at someone's (mainly mine) house. More often than not it turns into an impromptu sleepover in which we eat, watch Disney movies, and make our trademark nest to fall asleep in. This week, it's my turn to play hostess. Mr. PJ and Bluescreen sometimes join in, but more often than not they don't. They say that they're busy with paperwork, or something along those lines. Lately though, they've been busier than usual, and only recently did they tell us why.

They're working on adding some new children into the daycare. There's about twenty children in the daycare so far, and since there's four of us there's an even amount of children in the classrooms. Mr. PJ and Bluescreen pop in and out to check on us, but mostly stay in their office working on paperwork. Apparently the kids are all AU's of some kids we already have, which isn't all that surprising. Other than that, we workers have no idea what these kids are like.

Anyway, we all share a 'see you later!' and walk to our respective classrooms. Mine is near the waiting area to the point that I can see the front door from the doorway to my classroom. The kids in my classroom had to be picked specifically because, while monsters were very kind creatures, their trust and faith in humanity was all but gone. I couldn't feel mad at them, even if they place suspicion on me for something I've never done and will never do. We have to get permission from their parents if we put kids in my classroom. Even so, I don't mind. I have wonderful kids in my class. Ink is shy, sure, but he's a sweet little guy who'd never turn down a cuddle. Fresh is enthusiastic and a bit of a wacko, but we love him anyway. Geno acts like a grownup all the time, but slowly I'm showing him that it's _awesome_ to be immature. Dream is interesting to be around, and Blueberry is a positive polly through and through.

Error had to be put in another classroom because he hates all humans apart from his mother, which I think is sweet. I'm about to enter my classroom when something catches my attention from the corner of my eye. I look and there's a skeleton who looks around my age with a blue hoodie, a white t-shirt, and basketball shorts. He has a small skeleton child clinging to his hand and he looks very confused. The older skeleton not the little one. Hmm, must be from a Baby Bones AU. I immediately change my course so that I head toward the front door instead of my classroom. He doesn't see me coming so when I open the door and the bell jingles he whirls around. I give a small smile, out of both greeting and amusement.

"Hey there. Can I help you?"

He looks suspicious. Must've had bad experiences with humans. That thought fills me with DETERMINATION to prove to him that I'm not bad.

"i'm looking for pj's daycare."

"Well, you found it. Come on in, I'll go get Mr. PJ."

With that, I let him in and then walk down the hallway until I'm out of sight. Once I am, I take off running. I look at the wall as I'm sprinting down the hallway, mentally noting who's in which classroom, before looking in front of myself again.

And then the Constance Way of doing things happens.

I slow a little, brace myself, and then smack right into the office door. I snicker like a madwoman when the door opens and I'm greeted with Mr. PJ's unimpressed look. He knows he loves me.

"Constance."

"Yeeeeeeesss?"

"Why can't you knock on the door like a normal person."

"Normal? What does that word mean?"

He sighs.

"Oh, there's a kid around my age in the front looking for you."

"Oh? What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

I follow him into the waiting area. The kid looks very confused.

"i heard a loud noise earlier. what happened?"

Mr. PJ sighs and gives me a pointed look. I grin back. Soon we both snicker and he nudges me to tell the story. So I do.

"I knocked on the door. The Constance Way. You don't wanna know."

He gives me a look before returning to Mr. P and carrying on conversation. The kid behind looks scared out of skin- wait. No. I did not just- no. No. _No._ Nonononono. Noooooooooooooooooooooo!

...but I did...

Argh, I'll annoy everyone with The-Thing-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named later. For now, I see my kids coming. It's Fresh, Error, Geno and their human mom. I burst out of the door and yell 'HELLO' at the top of my lungs. In return, they all shout 'CONNIE' and 'MISS. CONNIE' at me. Then my hair is abused and I'm tackled to the ground in a hug. I laugh and prop Fresh on my hip while rubbing Geno's skull and smiling at Error. Their mom gives a hearty wave and goes off to work. Normally I wouldn't be so loud, but this is CQ. You don't need formalities with her. Like, ever. She's awesome. I turn around to trot back inside with my prizes, but then stop. Mr. PJ looks angry. There's only two things that get him angry. You either crossed a personal boundary with his, or you insulted someone precious to him. I assume that the kid was probably suspicious about leaving his (who I assume) brother in a daycare with a human working at it and said something he shouldn't have. The chances of him crossing a personal boundary are low, and even then Mr. PJ doesn't mind unless it's on purpose. Hmm. Nope, it's not my business.

I wait until Mr. PJ looks less angry before walking in with my newly acquired spawnlings. They both look at me when I enter. It's Mr. PJ who speaks first.

"Ahem. Well, Sans, it was nice meeting you. Perhaps you could come back at eleven thirty today to see how things run?"

"er, yeah. sure."

With that, Sans leaves. I look up at Mr. PJ.

"Mr. P, what was that about?"

"Nothing, Connie. Go to your classroom, the other children should arrive soon."

"Okey-dokey."

I walk into my classroom, Fresh still on my hip, and turn on the lights. My classroom is quite cozy, and since I only have five kids it's pretty small for a classroom. In the far right corner is where Story Time happens, it's filled with all sorts of bean bag chairs and blankets and a book shelf. In the corner across from that is The Corner, it has a timer above it and I tell them that when it goes off they can come play with the others again. If they get out before the timer goes off their sentence is extended by one minute. In the upper left corner is mainly where I sit. I mostly read, weave, and watch the kids while they run around doing random stuff. Ink likes to come over and sit by me and draw. In upper right there's an assortment of toys and board games for everyone to play with. It's kinda nice to sit and weave while everyone's playing around. My colorful creations are hung up on the walls or sold to my various neighbors.

I have two looms, one for commissions and another for a blanket for a baby in the neighborhood that'll be born soon. For the baby blanket I have to make four separate sections, make a way to tie them together, and then actually tie them together. It's been tedious, but I'm almost finished. Plus since it's warm outside no one really wants anything to keep them warm inside, so I have no commissions. I set the kids free and tell them to pick out today's movie. You see, I have a fine collection of Disney movies. I also love to sing the songs in them. Don't judge me.

"Hey, Error, do you want me to walk you to Mr. Grey's classroom? Or can you go on your own?"

"Hmph."

He struts past me to the doorway and hangs a left, going down the hall until he reaches Grey's classroom and walks inside. Well then. It doesn't take long for Ink, Blueberry, and Dream to arrive, and soon the place is chaotic. For the first two hours everyone is in their respective classrooms, then we all head toward the Big Room to goof off. The first two hours is to make sure everyone gets here, and the rest of the time we do whatever.

I let the kids run around for a bit while I weave before I call to them and say it's Story Time. Immediately they huddle around the books, trying to pick one as a team. I wait patiently in my chair until they've chosen one. Blueberry gives it to me with a smile, and I begin. Ah, Dr. Suess. A classic. When I'm done I put the book back into the shelf and look at the children in front of me.

"Alright, it's movie time!"

A serious of cheers, and an approval grunt from Geno, follow that statement.

"Fresh, Geno, what movie did you guys pick out?"

"Aladdin."

"Alright then. Everyone, to the front of the room while I get the projector set up!"

I go into a small closet in the back and wheel out the projector to the front, plug everything in, and press play. The kids are soon glued to the movie and I look up from my weaving once in a while. Ink sidles up to me when I sit down and I wrap an arm around him and continue my project. Bluescreen peeks in through the window in the door to check up on everyone real quick before moving on. When the credits begin to play I put everything back up and let the kids know that we'll move into the Big Room in a little while. Afterward, everyone plays around while I begin the final rows in my weaving. All of the sudden there's a knock on the door.

I look up and Mr. PJ is in the doorway, getting swarmed. I smile and stand up, walking over to him and chuckling at his suffering.

"Alright guys, come on, let him go and go back to playing, thank you. What is it Mr. P?"

"We have a possible client and I'd like you to show him how everything works around here, maybe even show him around. If you can't or don't want to that's fi-"

"No, no. It's alright. Think of it this way, if the client learns about the one it trust the least, it'll make trusting the others much more easy."

Mr. P gives me a gentle, almost fatherly, smile. He pats my head.

"Thank you, Connie."

"Of course."

With that he steps aside to reveal the Sans kid from earlier, except he's much more tense. This one's gonna be a prickly one isn't he? Wait, he's more of a angry, balding pigeon than anything. And this is why I won't take any threats from him seriously, because now when I look at him I imagine him with pigeons all over himself and claiming him the Father of all Pigeons and him just there belly laughing. Huh, no wonder it took me eleven years to get adopted.

"-orry, she does this all the time. Constance! Wake up!"

"Wha-huh? Oh sorry, I got lost in space again."

"Just take care of the client." He says, exasperated, and then leaves with a friendly wave to all the kiddos. Well, this is awkward.

"Hi there! I'm Constance, it's nice to meet you."

I hold out my hand for a handshake. He eyes it like it insulted him before glaring at me. Welp.

"Ok. Well, it's still nice to meet you. I'll introduce you to the kids if you want?"

He isn't glaring anymore, at least, he's just icily staring at me. Well, at least he isn't throwing flaming pitchforks at me with his eyes. Ok, Mission A) successfully acquire a new client. Mission B) stop imagining eyes with arms throwing flaming pitchforks at me. Now that I have my priorities lined up it's time to introduce him.


End file.
